The subject matter herein relates generally to battery modules.
Battery modules, such as those for electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, typically includes a plurality of cells grouped together to form the battery modules. The battery modules are connected together to form battery packs. Each of the cells includes positive and negative cell terminals that are electrically connected together. Different types of battery modules are formed using different types of cells. For example, one type of battery modules are known as pouch type battery modules, another type of battery modules are known as prismatic battery modules, and a third type of battery modules are known as cylindrical battery modules.
Prismatic battery modules use prismatic battery cells that are stacked together. The positive and negative cell terminals are connected using buss bars. The positive and negative cell terminals typically include a threaded post or bolt. The buss bar is connected to the post using a nut. Such connections are time consuming, and may have other problems such as over or under torque, or cross threading. In other configurations, such as co-pending application Ser. Nos. 13/839,931 and 13/839,567 incorporated herein, avoid the problems with the threaded post or bolt wherein the positive and negative terminals are plate shaped and are connected by welding the terminals to the buss bars. In a typical welded configuration, the series of bus bars are contained in a plastic carrier. The conventional carrier has multiple pieces including a plastic carrier tray and a cover. These conventional carriers have several problems including, alignment difficulty attaching a sensing wire and difficulty attaching a thermistor.
A need remains for battery modules that use low cost, flexible carrier that accommodates sensing wires and a thermistor.